Improvement in stripping top-flats of carding-machines



N. PETERS, PHorc-uTHcGRAPHEr., WASHINGTON. D C,

Ziff/Ugg 7W/7M.

N. PEYEns. FHOTmLITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. c,

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN STRlPPING TOP-FLATS OFCARDING-MACHINES.

specificati@ forming part of Letters Parent No. 14,451, dated March 18,1856.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE WTELLMAN, of Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Machinery Used on the Self-Top-Stripping Carding-Engine described in the specification of my former patent; and I do hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and reference thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figure l represents an end elevation of the frame and a few of the working parts to a carding-engine, and having my improved stripping apparatus at tached. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, from the inside of the machine, of a part of one top card elevatedA in the jaws of one of the lifting-rods, a part of the stripper-card in the act of cleansing said top card, also showing the chain belt around the gear that is formed in the circumference of the smaller of the two grooved cams, also showing the manner in which the two cams, or rather the double cam, acts first to operate the lifting-rod and tlien the stripper-lever. Fig. 4 is a View of the lifting-rod and jaw detached. Other figures will be referred to hereinafter.

The same letters when used in different figures indicate the same parts.

I will, in the first place, before giving the detailed description of my improvements, make a few statements, which shall give a general idea of their object and nature.

` First. I have so modified and arranged the different parts of my former machine as to render the whole apparatus-namely both that for raising, stripping, and depressing the top cards and that foi-'moving the frame y which carries the same from top to top-dependent upon for its motion one single pulley or gear fixed upon the doffer-shaft, and in altering the size of this pulley or gear I regulate at pleasure the number of tops to be stripped per minute.

Second. Another improvement has been the combination of the short shaft K, Figs. l, 2, and 6, and its segmental gear and rim with the two shafts M and N in such a manner as that the short shaft K, being in motion all the time, shall, by means of its segmental gear and rim, give motion first to the shaft M and then to the shaft N, or vice versa, and not only so, but the shaft M shall remain at rest-and be immovable while the shaft N is in motion, and, viceversa, the shaft N shall remain at rest and be immovable While the l the cams X X and their circumscribing gears as that motion is communicated to them direct from the shaft M by means ot' the chain belts Q Q.

Fifth is the manner of securing the top card in its elevated position by means of the rods or pins E E', Figs. 2 and 5, and the springs F F attached to the traversing frame S, the pin being used to prevent lateral motion of the top card while it is being operated upon by the stripper-card, and the springs holding it to its seat upon the lifting-jaws.

Sixth is the arrangement of the liftingjaws, so combining them with the cams yX X and their gears as thatV motion is communicated to them direct from the shaft M. by means of' the chain belts Q and the rods-e.

Seventh. My seventh improvement is in the machinery used for cleansing the stripper-card and in disposing of the strippings from the top cards, which I shall describe particularly in the following specification.

A is the main supporting-frame of a cardingengine.

B is the shaft of the main carding-cylinder.

C is the iOffer-cylinder, driven from the shaft B by the band D, passing round the pulley E, which is on the same stud with a pinion F, and turning it, which turns the gear G, fixed on the shaft of the doffer-cylinder C.

From the shaft'of the cylinder C all the motion is derived to operate the whole stripping apparatus, and first the band H passes from the pulley l on the shaft of the cylinder@ to which drives the shaft K.

a pulley J, fixed upon the end of a short shaft K near the bottom of the frame. This shaft K has fixed to its other end a gear` L, which has about two-thirds of its teeth cut away, and which I call the segmental gear L.

Situated above the shaft K is a shaft M, having two chain pulleys or gears R R, fastened one to each end of it, and which, by means of the chain belts Q Q', passing around them, give motion to the cams X.X, which are for raising, stripping, and replacing the top card; and situated below said shaft K is another shaft N, which gives motion to the frame S, that carries the raising and stripping apparatus from one top card to another.

On the shaft M is a pinion O, one-third as large as the segmental gear L, from which it derives motion.

P is a pinion fixed upon the shaft N, of the same size as the pinion .O and driven by the same gear L.

Vhen a poor or dirty staple of cotton is being carded by the machine, it will fill up the teeth of the top cards much sooner than when good and clean cotton is used; consequently the top cards will need stripping oftener. Now, as the shaft K has a constant motion and imparts movement to all the rest of the stripping apparatus, it is evident that if the speed of this shaft is increased the top cards will be stripped the oftener. rlhis may be done by increasing the size of the pulley l, Every revolution of the segmental gear L will first cause one revolution of the pinion O and shaft M, and then cause one revolution of the pinion P and shaft N, the shaft M completing its revolution before the shaft N begins its, and so on.

Q, Figs. 2 and 6, is a rim projecting from the side of the segmental gear L, and which occupies such .part of the circumference of the gear as is not occupied by the teeth, or about two-thirds. This rim is intended to act upon a notched plate-wheel R (fixed upon the side of the pinion O) in the following manner, viz: \Vhile the pinion O is just completing its revolution the end of the rim Q is just entering the notched portion of the circumference of the plate-wheel R, and when the last tooth of the segmental gear L has left the pinion O the rim Q will .be fully entered upon the notch in the wheel R, and as the concavity of the notch exactly iits the convexity of the rim, the plate-wheel, and consequently the pinion O and shaft M, will be prevented from turning,while the segmental gear L will continue its revolution in order to set in motion and then hold stationary in a similar manner the pinion P and its shaft N.

S S is 'a frame hung upon and movable about the ends of the boxes of the main cylinder-shaft B. It consists of the two upright bars a d, one on each end of the engine,hav ing their upper ends connected together by the horizontal connecting-bar l). Connected to and extending downward from the lower ends of these two bars a. a are the two segmental pin-wheels or mangle arcs T T. These are moved back and forth by the revolutions of the pinions U U, fixed upon the ends of the inclined shafts V V, upon the other ends of which shafts are the bevel pinions W V\V, which are driven by the bevels X X on the ends'of the shaft N. The inclined shafts V V are supported in such a manner as to allow of a short vibration in their upper ends, enough so that when the pinions U'U have moved the segmental-pinwheels T T so far in one direction as to bring the last pin in each of the series ofthe mangle-pins Z Z', &c., opposite to them, they can makea half-revolution about said pins and move to the opposite sides of the two series, and then produce a motion of the frame S S in an opposite direction.

The peculiarities of the movement of thc frame S S are more fully described in my former patent, and do not constitute `a part of my present improvements.

X X are double-faced grooved Vcams movable about the ends of the boxes of the main shaft. The outer-faces c c of these cams are intended to operate the two stripper-levers Y Y, and t-he inner faces d d to operate the lifting-rods Z Z. The leversY Y are hung on and are `movable about stud-pins which arefastened one to each of the arms a a of the frame S. Upon the lower ends of the levers are fixed short pins with a friction-roll about them, and which are intended to play in the grooves of the outer faces c c of the cams X X. The other ends of the two levers Y Y extend above the upper surface of the series of top cards, and are connected together by the stripper-card A', which is firmly secured to them. Now at every revolution of the cams X X the levers Y Y are made to operate forth and back once; consequently the stripper-card moves forward beneath the the top card, which has been previously elevated, brushes against the teeth of said top card, and in coming back removes from the teeth all the dirt and strippings that may be there. The lifting-rods Z Z slide up and down in bearings in the arms ca a, and fastened to their upper ends are the lifting-jaws B B. (Seen more clearly in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.) A pin in the lower ends of the lifting-rods carries a friction-roll that is intended to play in the grooves of the inner faces d d of the cams X X, and thus when the cams revolve the lifting-rods Z Z and the jaws B B are elevated, and as the two jaws inclose each an end of one of the top cards e e e, dac., said top card will be elevated from its bed also.

The manner of securing the top card when raised may be seen better at Figr, which is a longitudinal section of a portion of the bar a and connecting-bar b, also of the lifting jaws, and a portion of the top card in its elevated position, dsc. A is a section of the frame or bed, and upon which the top card scale.) moved over that top card nearest to the recepguided by this pin D until it is raised sufficiently'to be guided by the pin or dagger E',

which hangs directly over D. It then moves up the pin E until its upper surface comes in contact with the springs F F. The top card, now being raised to its full height, is

kept in that position until the stripper-card moves beneath it.- Then the stripper-cardrests an instant while the'top-card is depressed a very little, settling the teeth of the stripper-card into those of the top card. .This

is' accomplished by having a little fall or offset in the grooves of the inner faces d d of the cams X X, which will force the liftingjaws down accordingly, and the springs F F will force the top card down upon the stripper-card, as aforesaid. Then the strippercard moves back again to its place, and the top card is depressed by the action of the lifting-jaws and rod and cam back again to its bed or scat, and so each top throughout the series is treated in its turn in like manner.

The next point to be considered is the manner of disposing of the strippings or waste that is collected by the stripper-card A froln the Vseveral top cards. This may be done by providing a receptacle H', which shall be fastened to the engine near the feed-rolls, as represented in Fig. l, and tdirectly over. this receptacle is hung a narrow strip of wood having upon its lower surface a comb or cardclothing or other suitable material that shall rake or comb from the stripper-card, when it comes in contact with it, all the stripping-s that shall have been collected upon it in going from the first top card llo the last and back again to the first. I, Figi, is the cardcomb fastened to the end of the lever K', there being another similar lever on the opposite side of the frame to support the opposite end of the comb I. This lever is hung on the post L and has an arm M extending downward, with a weight N upon the end of it, which is for the purpose of keeping the comb l suspended in its position over H.. It also has a fork or branch O, which,when the projection P -on the lever Y, approachesit, is struck by it and causes the comb I to be borne down, so that the teeth of it (l) engage in the teeth of the stripper-card 'containing -the strippings. A(This position-is shown by the red lines in Fig. l. Itis also shown more clearly in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, being different views of the position drawn on an enlarged This it does while the frame S is being tacle H. Now, after this top card is raised to position, the stripper-card moves forward to clean it, and in moving forward the comb I combs off all the strippings that have been collected upon the stripper-card, drops thema projection S on the end of the arm K strikes .a wedge-shaped block T', which is fastened to the end of a spring U ,and causes the block to recede, as shownby the red lines, Figs. 8 and 9, until the end o f the projection is forced below the block T', which then, by

the action of the spring U', is made to close over the end of the projection S, andl thus holds it upon the surface of the strippercard. This block T forms the mouth-piece to a groove or channel V on the strippercard A, and the projection S, being entered in this groove, will hold thecomb l upon the surface of the stripper-card A while it (A) is movingforWa-rd to clean the top card,

and Will escape from the groove at the opposite end from which it entered, the groove being long enough to hold the projection until the comb I has passed in contact with the whole surface of the stripper-card.

Having thus fully described my improvements, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

v1. The combination of the segmental gear L, with its projecting rim Q, and the pinions O and P, with their -attached notched platewheels, all as applied to the shafts K, M, and

N, for the purpose of giving the alternate intermittent movements to the shafts M and N, as specified.

2. The arrangement of the'man'gle-pins Z" Z &c., in the arc of a circle, vupon the center of which the frame carrying the stripping apparatus vibrates, for the purpose of avoiding intermediate gearing and consequent backlash, as described.

3. The combination of the cams X X withl the chain-belt Q', the chain-pulleys R, and

shaft M, arranged and made tov operate together, as described. 4. The combination of the cams X X with the levers Y Y, carrying and operating the stripper-card, in the manner specified.

5. The combination of the cams `X X with the lifting-rods Z Z, and the levers Y Y, ar-

ranged and made to operate in connection, as described.

6. The combination ofthe springs F F and the pins E E and their application to the frame S, for the purpose specified.

7. A mechanism for cleaning' the strippercard, arranged and applied substantially as described.

S. The segmental gear L and its rim Q, as

Whenl the comb I strikes upon the stripper-card, l

applied and operated for the purpose of giv- In testimony whereof I have hereto set my4 ing motion both to the mechanism for raissignature this 7th day of October, A. D. 1854. ing, stripping, and depressing the top card and to the mechanism for moving` the raising GEORGE VELLMAN. and stripping mechanism from one top card to' another, not moving both at the same time, but alternately, first one and then the other.

' Titnessesz NATHANIEL WRIGHT, O. E. CUSHING. 

